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To hear it from Montana, it sounds like he has spent as much time in an orthopedist’s office than he did on the football field. Start with his arthritis, which is in one of his elbows, his knees and his hands. “My hands have been, oh my gosh, in the middle of the night they hurt like crazy,’’ Montana said. Then there’s the balky knee he can’t straighten despite a half-dozen surgeries. “They kept saying I’ll need a knee replacement when I can’t walk,’’ he said. “I can’t really run or do much with it.’’ Recently, Montana said, he had elbow surgery and now he’s got problems in his neck. To date, he’s had three neck fusions. “I think I’m headed down the fusion thing again,’’ Montana said. “… The path of a nerve they think is being affected.’’ There’s more nerve damage in one of his eyes. “It acts like a lazy eye to some degree because every time you’re tired, it kind of goes wherever it feels like a little bit,’’ Montana said. “Not dramatic but just enough where you can’t read or you have to refocus.’’ A doctor said the nerve damage resulted from head trauma, according to Montana. “Can’t figure out where that came from,’’ Montana deadpanned, assuming that the host of physical problems resulted from the pounding he took during his football career. “My whole family likes to live on the edge, so some of the things I regret that I can’t do with them,’’ Montana said. “Like snowboarding. I fell like 50 times within 30 yards off the top of the ski lift. ... I love basketball. I can’t play basketball. I can shoot, but that’s about it. I can’t run up and down the court. My knee just gives out. “I tried a little bit of skiing, but unfortunately when you get weight on one ski under my left knee, it’s just not very strong. After my first back surgery, what kind of compounds things, is my sciatic nerve has been damaged. So the muscles along my sciatic nerve into my left foot have been numb since ’86.’’ “Unfortunately,’’ he said, “most of us leave this game with things that linger.’’ |
I was surprised at how slight of stature he was. The thought of him taking some of the hits he did, I don't know how the hell he survived them.
I am not sure what his motivation is ... but,(in some aspects) getting older sucks . It doesn't matter if you played in the NFL or not. He was a Quarterback ... and (except for Jim Burt) - he barely got touched (Okay - I am exaggerating ... a little).
I read the article ...(to Joe) - your 60, be grateful you lasted that long.
I am not sure what his motivation is ... but,(in some aspects) getting older sucks . It doesn't matter if you played in the NFL or not. He was a Quarterback ... and (except for Jim Burt) - he barely got touched (Okay - I am exaggerating ... a little).
I read the article ...(to Joe) - your 60, be grateful you lasted that long.
There's getting older with the usual aches and pains and then there are the bodies that have been brutalized for years in football..
The Marshall won may have been even more brutal.
I don't know many 60 year olds who can still run up and down the court, but certainly none that played pro football.
It sucks getting old. But, Joe - you're lucky you can still function.
Consider how many veterans who are injured or have PTSD, miners who struggled to pay a mortgage and put food on the table only to die of black lung. There's a long list.
Montana was indeed tiny. I think he played at something like 6'1" 160 pounds.
I was surprised at how slight of stature he was. The thought of him taking some of the hits he did, I don't know how the hell he survived them.
Agreed - i met and had a photo taken with both Montana and Rice three years ago. Rice is pencil thin and Montana is kinda average size. I was surprised.
That and Burt!!!
I don't know many 60 year olds who can still run up and down the court, but certainly none that played pro football.
It sucks getting old. But, Joe - you're lucky you can still function.
I didn't play pro anything, but I still run up and down the court at 60, twice a week, and I'm not alone...
The NFL it seems is make a deal with the devil bad, the question is, was it all worth it? Would you trade 4 Super Bowl rings and the feeling of being a World Champion and NFL icon for the ability to play a little pick up or snowboard at 55? Who says at 55 you'd have the time or wherewithal to pursue such activities in your "leisure" time? I have a boss who's in his 60s and he sails and stays active but he busts his ass 12-16 hours a day for his business and no one has ever put him on a Wheaties box or in a commercial or the Hall of Fame. Pick one Joe, you can't have it both ways.
But there are a lot of college players, players who have taken the same abuse to their bodies that never had the big payoff, that Montana had.....they are faced with the same problems he has, and still have to go out there and do their jobs.....
If the game continues, it will slowly reach the play of pro bowl games.....and then, the golden goose will be no more....
We are seeing guys, get that second big contract, and then hanging them up....hell, we have seen guys retire from the game after one season.....there are guys who will think of their future, and guys that live in the moment, and the NFL, as we have known it, will never be the same....
The NFL owners really made a great move, when they got the union to change the pay scale of draftees....the draftees are basically under contract for 4-5 years, with option years, at much lower contracts than before.....methinks, the union is second guessing that concession now....
The euphoria of SB week, makes us tend to forget the dark side of professional football.....
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Is still the hardest hit I think I've ever seen. You knew after that hit - he wasn't playing again that day (or I think for the 49ers ever again... didn't he miss the next 2 years from that hit, then he was traded to KC?)
I don't know many 60 year olds who can still run up and down the court, but certainly none that played pro football.
It sucks getting old. But, Joe - you're lucky you can still function.
I didn't play pro anything, but I still run up and down the court at 60, twice a week, and I'm not alone...
Congrats. I wish I could.
I'm sure he would love to have the opportunity to NOT go snowboarding
I must have been buried under a rock as I had no idea (or recall) that Joe was a huge coke fiend
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had the rigors of football, as well as the damage being a huge coke fiend does to your body. Not being able to play pickup basketball and stress his heart may not be the worst thing.
I must have been buried under a rock as I had no idea (or recall) that Joe was a huge coke fiend
Lol @ 'under a rock'. Not sure if that was intentional.
But there were rumors back in 85. Link below.
LA Times - ( New Window )
But there were rumors back in 85. Link below. LA Times - ( New Window )
I laughed..
What they're going to think, Joe thinks, is that Joe is stepping into the men's room for a toot.
Plus, he had a habit early in his career of trading in his wife for a better model.
Once, I agree, I think Montana upgraded twice...would have to check...